Monday, February 6, 2012

Human Rights Watch Reports on Racism French Police

On 26/JAN/2012 Human Rights Watch reported that French police officers abuse of their powers to force identity checks on black and Arab young men and boys, despite the absence of any evidence of wrongdoing.

The French police denounces the HRW report as a "caricature" . On the other hand HRW warned in its report that unwarranted and intimate searches and insults were damaging relations between police and community.

"It's shocking that young black and Arab kids can be, and are, arbitrarily forced up against walls and manhandled by the police with no real evidence of wrongdoing," said HRW western Europe researcher Judith Sunderland.

This HRW-report is just another confirmation of former denouncements and studies, like the CNRS-study of 2009 (see this link in French for more info)

I personally experienced and saw it each time I visited Paris city center. It's an aberration when you know that so many urban youth in France are considered as presumed guilty of wrong doings.

Just discovered your blog .I am a French woman of African decent living in the uk.I can confirm that institutional racism in France is well and alive .In fact all other forms of racism are not doing too bad either .I love France , it is my homeland but police brutalities , bigotetry in politics , under representation of ethnic minorities in all influential spheres of most professions , ect ... are normative experiences which remain unchallenged . Well done for pointing this issue .